Midterm Exam Flashcards
Who was Raphael Lemkin?
Jewish scholar who coined the term “genocide” and advised the US during the Nuremberg Trials
What was Lemkin’s definition of genocide?
A coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of the essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the
aim of annihilating the groups themselves
What were Lemkin’s 2 stages of genocide?
- Destruction of the “national pattern” of the target group
- Imposition of the “national pattern” of the oppressor on the target group or on the target group’s territory after removal/colonization
What is the UN’s definition of genocide?
- Lethal and/or non-lethal acts
- Committed intentionally against members of, and for the purpose of completely or partially destroying
- a racial, ethnic, national, or religious group
What are lethal acts under the UN’s genocide definition?
direct or indirect killing
What are nonlethal acts under the UN’s genocide definition?
causing serious physical or mental harm; forced removal of children; prevention of births
Name three criticisms of the UN definition of genocide.
- Culpability standard should be lower. Shouldn’t need specific intent, just general intent
- Protected groups are defined too narrowly
- Underlying acts are defined too broadly
What is the legal definition of a crime against humanity?
- Any of the following acts: murder, extermination; enslavement; forced relocation/deportation; imprisonment; torture; rape and sexual assault; persecution of a group on a political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, or gender grounds; enforced disappearance of persons; apartheid; or other inhumane acts of a similar nature
- committed intentionally (doesn’t require specific intent)
- as part of a widespread or systematic attack
- against any civilian population
What is politicide?
when political groups are targeted
What is sociocide/classicide?
when economic groups are targeted
What is eliticide?
when elites are targeted
What is gendercide?
when specific genders are targeted; usually includes murder for men and sexual assault for women
What is ethnocide?
cultural genocide
What is ethnic cleansing?
when an ethnic group is removed from a territory
What is democide?
any mass murder by the state
What was Condorcet’s conceptual contribution to the 17th and 18th centuries?
Concept of unlimited progress; idea that with work, humans could continuously improve the world around them and their species
What is eugenics?
good growing, infused with racial thinking and scientific racism; state is responsible for “landscaping the human garden”
Describe the characteristics of a utopia under a totalitarian regime.
Primacy of ideology over reality
Us vs. them worldview
Promises scientific solution to “problems” and the transcendence and fusion of major social groups
Requires a revolutionary party, a unitary state, submission of the individual to the collective, revolution and war
Ends justify the means
What was the impact of World War 1 on genocide?
Devaluation of human life
Normalization of mass violence
Expanded central role of the state
Imperial collapse led to the trauma of loss, scapegoating of internal enemies, and demographic homogenization to promote stability
“Confirmed” the failure of liberalism, opened the door for radical alternatives
What were the causes of death during the genocide of indigenous people in the United States?
disease, warfare, forced relocations, destruction of Indian ways of life, and massacres/genocide
Describe the differences between the Spanish and French approaches to colonization.
The Spanish took an enslavement approach and established the encomienda system between 1492 and the 17th cent. They were criticized by Bartolome de las Casas for violent abuses of power. There was conflict between the crown’s law and the colonists’ practice.
The French cooperated with the indigenous people and recognized Iroquois sovereignty.